Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the assistance they and private sector providers offer to people with limited digital skills or understanding, in the light of the increasing number of public support and information services being provided online; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy and funding requirements of services provided to people living with disabilities in accessing public services online.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
We are committed to improving citizens’ digital skills and particularly those with limited skills and understanding.
We recently published our plans to improve adult basic digital skills by updating the national standards setting out the digital skills people need to get on in life and work and introducing improved basic digital skills qualifications at two levels:
We are also introducing a national entitlement to basic digital skills courses from 2020, similar to the existing legal entitlements for English and Maths.
In the interim, we will continue to support the provision of basic digital skills training for adults in colleges and community learning centres across England through the Adult Education Budget and other programmes, including the Future Digital Inclusion programme funded by DfE managed by the Good Things Foundation and delivered through the 3,000 strong Online Centres network. To date, this programme has supported over 800,000 adult learners to develop their basic digital skills, many of whom are socially excluded.
We have also established the Digital Skills Partnership (DSP) to bring together organisations from private, public and third sectors to improve digital skills and capability levels. The Government launched a Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund in September 2018 to support innovative projects aimed at helping older and disabled people.
Government ensures its services are accessible by design and has also committed to ensuring that assistance to access its services is always available for those who are not online. Government departments are mandated to provide assisted digital (offline) support for their services where it is required. Video Relay Service (VRS), for example, is available for some government services, including for claiming welfare benefits. VRS allows two parties in two separate locations to connect remotely via a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter so BSL users can make and receive telephone calls. The three parties involved in the call (caller, called party and interpreter) can all be in different locations.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities concerning the maintenance of mobile library and information service vehicles in rural areas and outlying urban areas; and how those services are integrated with other relevant council and Government services.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
In September 2014 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published a report “Rural library services in England: exploring recent changes and possible futures”. The report provided information to help local communities and authorities to better understand the issues, challenges and opportunities for rural areas arising from changes to library services and what can be done to deliver a comprehensive, efficient and sustainable library service in rural areas that meets local need.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the Met Office will cease to provide forecasts for the BBC; what assessment they have made of the impact of that change on the provision of the shipping forecast in particular; and what discussion they have had with the BBC about ensuring that future providers have detailed knowledge of the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Details of the contract between the Met Office and BBC are a matter for the BBC.
The Met Office and BBC are in discussion over the future use of Met Office public weather service data and National Severe Weather Warnings during periods of significant weather.
The Shipping Forecast is paid for and provided by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The MCA have responsibility for providing maritime weather products (including a Shipping Forecast), ensuring that the contracted supplier meets the necessary required standards. The current supplier contracted by the MCA is the Met Office. Their current contract runs for a minimum of 3 years, until 2018, with the possibility of a further 2 years. The MCA are in the process of finalising a written agreement with the BBC that will ensure the maritime forecasts that they broadcast will be the ones supplied by the MCA.